I'm sorry, but having re-read the article in State of the Mongoose, I am not convinced. I notice that Victory at Sea: Ironclads will now be coming out after VAS 2, even though it was allegedly finished and only waiting for the layout queue (how may years ago was that?). The miniatures snipe hunt seems to be over, thank (enter name of appropriate deity here), but I think we should bear in mind that six years ago the miniatures were (according to the Mongoose archives) well in hand and would be released Real Soon Now. I have gone through the articles available back to 2012 and can't find a single reference to problems or delays (except for that bothersome layout queue) and yet the game that was constantly touted as being just around the corner has never appeared as close as the end of the block. You'll excuse me if I'm less than sanguine about the arrival of VAS 2 anywhere in the near future.

Prove me wrong.

LT

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I will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war
A twisting pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor

I can tell you as one of the guys who did a lot of work for VAS 2. I mean a lot. I'm am still sitting on all those files. The game is completely playable but I believe Matt has become a guy who wants the perfect game and I fear it will never appear. Its been five years since I stopped working on the book and still have nothing to play with but my personal files which I do use. My hopes are that the game finally comes out as something I can be proud of being a part of.

I suggest that anyone who still harbors the hope that VaS2 will be published within our lifetimes should definitely drop in on the Victory at Sea Playtesting - Basic Rules thread as Matt suggested above. A quick read-through of the posts should make it clear that the rules are no more complete than the line of miniatures. OTOH, those among us willing to download and fiddle around with what looks to be at best an early beta version could probably make something playable from it.

Good luck. I wish I had bet money on this.

LT

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I will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war
A twisting pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor

A quick read-through of the posts should make it clear that the rules are no more complete than the line of miniatures.

Umm... We haven't posted the full rulebooks yet (of which there will be three in the set, all three almost complete - need to work on Coastal Invasions, the odd background piece, and then we are just adding scenarios).

A quick read-through of the posts should make it clear that the rules are no more complete than the line of miniatures.

Umm... We haven't posted the full rulebooks yet (of which there will be three in the set, all three almost complete - need to work on Coastal Invasions, the odd background piece, and then we are just adding scenarios).

I can confirm this, from what I've seen they look pretty complete. But can't comment on what has been posted here as I haven't looked at that.

A quick read-through of the posts should make it clear that the rules are no more complete than the line of miniatures.

Umm... We haven't posted the full rulebooks yet (of which there will be three in the set, all three almost complete - need to work on Coastal Invasions, the odd background piece, and then we are just adding scenarios).

What do you feel is missing from what has been posted thus far?

I wasn't referring to the rulebooks so much as the messages. Apparently, after over six years of playtesting you are still fiddling with some rather basic subjects like shooting, ship stats, etc.; as a result, I am not convinced that the rules are "almost complete". According to you, they were "almost complete" in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and yet, odd though it may seem, I can't find my copy anywhere. I guess I'll have to buy another one ... oh ... wait ...

Is there some "-ish" we should be looking for?

LT

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I will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war
A twisting pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor

I don't think so - we have the three books pretty much complete at the moment (the biggest thing missing are more historical scenarios, but we are cranking through those, and we have yet to decide whether the Soviet fleet will be making an appearance).

We'll be starting an open playtest of the rules proper in the next few days where you will see the entirety of what we have done (the material may be staggered, as there is a lot of it). If I could ask you to reserve judgement until then, I think you will see just how much has been done (it is fairly titanic in scope, way, way past anything done in the 1st edition).

After two months of reading first the Basic Rules thread and then the Open Playtest thread, I stand by my message from May 3, 2018. Contrary to your statement at that time, the books are nowhere near completion except for the scenarios. If they were, you would be getting questions about one rule or another, not the dozen at a time that several of the playtesters have posted. For that matter, your characterization of the current playtest rules as a "rough draft version", rather than the "nothing left to do but buff the paint" rules you've been describing for the last few months seems to support my opinion completely.

January 1, 2019, is 176 days away. You still haven't decided whether destroyers can fire torpedoes in bad weather, a rather basic rule to be still in question for a game that has been in development for at least six years. Why should anyone believe that game will be published by December?

LT

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I will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war
A twisting pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor